Yusef Salaam, member of the “Central Park Five”, is invited to speak at the Democratic Party Convention

Trump took out newspaper ads in 1989 calling on New York State to reinstate the death penalty after the group of black and Latino teenagers were arrested and accused of raping a woman in Central Park. They were later exonerated by DNA evidence and a confession from the perpetrator, and the city paid over $40 million in compensation for their wrongful imprisonment. They have since called themselves “The Exonerated Five.”

Trump has never acknowledged her innocence, an issue he was questioned about as a candidate in 2016 and as president in 2019. Then-Senator Kamala Harris wrote an editorial for NBC News in 2019 urging Trump to watch “When They See Us,” a dramatized miniseries about the “Central Park Five” from director Ava DuVernay, and also called for reforms to the criminal justice system with regard to young suspects, defendants and prisoners. The Biden campaign — which has since been taken over by Harris — has highlighted her story as part of its message to black voters this election cycle, amid polls suggesting Trump is making gains.

Salaam won his City Council seat in 2023 thanks in part to the widespread attention his campaign received following Trump’s own impeachment in Manhattan. In response, he issued a monosyllabic statement: “Karma.”